Land of Tears
by BetterbyDesign
Summary: Rei Valmont is a traveling journalist whose love belonged to helping the people of the world. Jed Morris is a soldier in the ARMY who finds physical love in women. When troubled times come for the world, can their love withstand grueling obstacles?
1. Chapter I

Land of Tears  
  
Tiny-Dancer  
  
A.N: This is a Rei/Jed story, for they are my next to favorite couple besides the obvious Serena/Darien. Hope you enjoy!  
  
"Rei, are you still coming to the cookout? And don't suddenly say you've got some migraine because you and I both know that that is not true," Serena Valmont reprimanded her sister-in-law. Serena was determined not to let Rei miss this cookout. Darien's entire company was coming to the ritual cookout, and almost half of the men in the company were very available men, which improved Rei's chances of finally getting to settle down. Yet, Serena knew that when it concerned Rei, settling down was not one of her top priorities.  
  
"Serena, I told you, I don't want to go. Why can't you understand that? I have a major story due tomorrow first thing in the morning, and I need to edit it at least once more before I go to bed. I don't have time to hang around a bunch of egotistical, sexually frustrated men who only want to do me in the backseat of their hotrod," Rei explained, her South African accent becoming noticeable.  
  
"Rei, please, don't be so uncouth. A lot of the guys coming are actually quite civilized and decent, and I'm sure that if they wanted to 'do you', they'd do it in a much more appropriate place. Quit being so goddamn you, and just make an appearance. That's all I'm asking." Serena pleaded. Okay, so she sounded a bit pushy and overbearing, but Serena knew for a fact that Rei wasn't getting any younger, and eventually she would want to settle down. She only figured that by pushing Rei to all these engagements such as their cookout, Rei had a better chance of meeting some one.  
  
"Alright. Alright. Quit being so pushy. I'll make a quick appearance," Rei succumbed. This had to be perhaps the millionth time that she swore never to give in to Serena's pleas, and yet, she always found herself in some interesting situations, thanks greatly to her overbearing sister-in-law. Her brother sure did know how to pick them.  
  
"Thank you. Besides, Elizabeth has been asking me when she's going to see you again." Elizabeth was Serena's 3-year-old daughter, and an absolute adorer of Rei. Elizabeth was perhaps the only person under the age of 20 that Rei actually had no problems with.  
  
"Has she, now? She's probably the only sane person in that family of yours, you know. I don't know how my dear brother does it, but I assure you, I cringe every time I think about being in your shoes." Serena's bell-like laughter rang loud through the telephone, and Rei herself chuckled at the image of herself being a mother.  
  
"You do love your freedom. I was like you once, you know. Then I met Darien, and it was like, I couldn't picture NOT having children with him. We're both just too goddamn beautiful," Serena cockily announced.  
  
"Yeah whatever. Well, I have to go. I just got back some film from my last trip, and I need to make sure that the stupid developers didn't fuck up this batch of pictures. So I'll see you at 8:00?"  
  
"No, the cookout is at 5:00. So show up by 6:00 so you can eat with us," Rei's sister-in-law planned. She knew Rei well enough to know that she'd show up late, but at least she was going to come, and that was better than the last cookout Serena had hosted where Rei didn't show up until all the guests had already left. It was as though she simply repelled any social activities besides her death-defying excursions all over the globe. Sometimes Serena thought that Rei worked for the CIA instead of the international news magazine that she worked for.  
  
"Yeah whatever. I'll show up as soon as I finish checking the prints and my story, okay?"  
  
"Rei." Serena warned.  
  
"I WILL show up. Don't worry. I'll see you at eight. Bye, love." And she hung up. Talking to Serena was tiring, especially when weaseling her way out of the usual cookout that Darien and Serena hosted every 3 days. Stretching out on her overstuffed, worn out sofa, she grabbed the yellow notepad that was sitting on her maple coffee table, and zealously started looking over her notes.  
  
She had just gotten back from a three-week trip to El Salvador, where she was doing an article on a radical political party that was beginning to cause some ruckus in the country. Although it was nothing that should have concerned the other countries, Rei believed that if something, no matter how minute, was not done to tame the radicals, that the constant terror in El Salvador would only get worse. Her three weeks there had been everything far from dull. At one point, her translator, Eduardo, had been stuck in a gun war between the local police and a group of warlords. She had captured some amazing pictures, and some even more amazing stories from different people, still throwing Rei for a loop that she had come out unscathed in the end. Her editor was already praising her for a job well done after seeing a couple of the proofs from the trip, and now all she had to do was finish her article. Another thousand words and she would be done.  
  
The mirror clock on her vibrant red wall read 3:26, which gave her a sturdy three hours before she had to show up at her brother's house on base for their little 'engagement'. She detested their cookouts with a passion. All the men were cocky bastards who were cursed with overwhelming hubris. It sickened Rei at the thought of marrying one of them. The entity of marriage sickened her. When she was younger, Darien would always write her letters from California talking about how one day, he would meet the girl of his dreams; that she was out there waiting for her Prince Charming (which was he). Rei had always envied that about her brother; his hopelessly romantic notions. Even after 5 years of marriage to Serena, he always seemed to surprise Serena with a romantic gesture that even made Rei sigh dreamily. Rei had always been ambivalent about such fantasies. Darien and herself grew up in two separate worlds, each one forming their own opinions, their own lifestyles. Darien desired the comfort of familiarity and family, despite being in the ARMY. Rei yearned for the adventure that she had lived all through her childhood. Her burning fire in life was the need to help all those around her. Never did she yearn for a warm body at night to curl up next to, or a companion to ward off her loneliness. Her work was what made Rei want to get up in the morning and live.  
  
She had lived a hard life. Her scars were too deep to be seen by the human eye; her tragedies too great to define with words. She grew up in a world that saw such death and destruction, everything paled in comparison. Forced to grow up with the future always in danger, Rei had grown accustomed to harbor reservations against anyone. The first day she met Serena, for example, she had studied her as though a scientist would study a new species of animal, and kept herself as closed off as possible. Yet, Serena had forced her way into Rei's life whether Rei liked it or not, and made her realize that she was not the enemy in Rei's reality, but a friend. Now, Rei couldn't imagine living without Serena there to support her and bring optimism to Rei's depressing reality.  
  
Looking at the clock once more the neon numbers blared 4:55 P.M. She must have fallen asleep. She had not been able to get a good night's rest the night before, and Rei found herself dozing off every few hours to catch up on the lost hours. It was a miracle that her editor, Mina Keriakis, had given her the week off to get back to the routine everyone else around her had, otherwise Rei would have been struggling to keep up with her fast paced schedule. Her days spent in El Salvador had been rough, emotionally and physically. By the time Rei boarded the small one-engine plane to go back to the States, she didn't know if she'd ever be able to forget some of the horrifying things that she had seen. Children left abandoned by the streets because of hard times in the family. One time, Rei interviewed a mother of three who had raised herself after she witnessed both her parents and older brother be murdered by power hungry warlords. It was difficult to see such things, but Rei never complained. She loved her job, but what she loved even more was knowing that by writing articles that exposed the raging problems, she was making a difference in a world that she was forced to live in. Society needed a reality check when it came to the suffering of their fellow humans, and Rei enjoyed being the one to open the eyes of everyone around her to what was REALLY happening in the world.  
  
Grunting at her lassitude, Rei decided to at least start the rest of her article before she headed out, and slowly trudged up the three stairs that led to her small closet turned office. Her laptop had been left on from earlier that day, and clicking to where she had filed her article, Rei began working. The hours passed with ease, although every once in a while Rei would get up to stretch or find some more cigarettes. She had picked up the nasty habit while on a trip to Russia, and although she knew that each stick was cutting her life years in half, she couldn't seem to curve her need for them. It wasn't as though she chain-smoked-that was simply disgusting-she merely smoked whenever she needed to calm down or get her creative juices flowing, which was every hour or so.  
  
After giving her last paragraph a quick run through, Rei scanned the clock on her desk to find the box-like numbers reading 7:30. She had been working for almost 2 and half hours straight, and she was late to the cookout she had sworn to attend, no matter how tired she was. Serena was DEFINITELY going to get on her about being late. Cursing loudly at her misfortune, Rei grabbed her last pack of cigarettes from her dishwasher (since Serena never perused the dishwasher to take the contraband from Rei, and Rei never washed her dishes, therefore having no need of a dishwasher), slammed her feet into a pair of running shoes, and grabbed her keys before locking the door and heading out to her car.  
  
Traffic was grueling. It seemed as though every soldier west of the Mississippi River wanted to get on base. What made it much worse was that since she didn't have one of the magical stickers that automatically let her in, DECALs, she had to wait in the even longer line to get her car inspected and then allowed to pass through the makeshift gates. Imagine her luck when, after finally being allowed to pass, her car refused to start. Huffing vehemently at her ill fortune, Rei lighted the cigarette hanging from the corner of her mouth, smiled apologetically to the amused guard, and tried once more. Nothing. If only cars could feel pain, Rei had no doubt that hers would have been howling in agony. She tried once more, and finally was able to get it rumbling. Pressing the gas, she let out the choke lever to her 1978 Honda, and puttered her way out of the gates and onto the roads on weaving throughout the base. The roads were not as crowded as she had imagined them to be, and after turning onto the neighborhood where her brother lived, she easily found his dark green cottage fortressed by at least 15 cars, each of them the latest year and model of their respective make. Parking her own hunk of junk in front of a particular red mustang, Rei turned off the engine and rolled up her windows using the window roller. Nothing in her car was automatic.  
  
The smell of burning charcoal and grilling hamburgers welcomed her to her brother's abode, and was greeted to see Serena and Darien sitting at one of their many patio tables, laughing and talking with the men and women sitting around them. A few of the soldiers in Darien's group had brought their girlfriends and even their children, and Rei was relieved to see that she wouldn't be surrounded entirely by obnoxious single men. Darien noticed her first, and waved her over to his table. He put his beer down to give her a big welcoming hug, and Serena smiled warmly at her from her seat as she continued to talk to one of the other women there.  
  
"You're late. Serena's going to have your head for that," Darien whispered into her ear as he hugged her. Despite being Rei's brother, he did not carry the accent that was so evident in Rei's speech.  
  
"I know. I got caught up with work." She took a last puff of her cigarette before casting it out on the concrete and squishing it with her foot.  
  
"Well, how does that not surprise me?" Darien rolled his eyes at her comment, and handed her a beer.  
  
"No thanks. I'm driving you know. Don't want to be a threat to the public."  
  
"More so than you already are?" he asked, failing miserably to hide the grin on his handsome face, "Besides, you can crash here if you get THAT wasted." Not one to turn down an offered beer, Rei grabbed the cold bottle, and took a quick gulp of the bitter brew.  
  
"Aunt Rei!" a high-pitched voice yelled as a small body bombarded Rei and wrapped its small thin arms around her leg into a tight embrace.  
  
"Ellie! How's my favorite niece?" Rei asked, picking her up and kissing her affectionately on her chubby cheek.  
  
"Aunt Rei, I'm your only niece!" the bemused little girl replied.  
  
"You're still my favorite you know," Rei seriously reiterated. The little girl laughed, which sounded remarkably much like her mother's, and wrapped her arms around Rei's neck to give her another hug  
  
"Did you miss me while you were gone?" Elizabeth knew that Rei had gone out on another trip and had just returned a few days earlier.  
  
"Yup, and I brought you some stuff, too. Look in my bag, Ellie, and I have something for you and your brother."  
  
"Yay!" Rei put the small child down so that she could show Elizabeth the surprise. Opening the tissue paper, Elizabeth found a necklace that had a beautiful wood carving of a dove in flight. Untying the leather strap that held the charm, Rei put it on her niece, smiling at how cultured it made the 3 year old look. Everyone around the two looked onward with amusement and interest to see aunt and niece share such a precious moment.  
  
"Thank you, Aunt Rei." Elizabeth looked at her necklace with fascination as she gave her aunt another hug before running off to show her mother. Serena nodded and complimented her daughter on the necklace, before looking over to Rei.  
  
"You always spoil that child. I'm afraid now that you're going to make her want to go with you on all your trips." Serena feigned fright.  
  
"It's in her blood. I was always fascinated with that kind of stuff when I was young, and look at how I turned out."  
  
"Heaven forbid," Serena scoffed before laughing. "Sit down. Let me introduce you to everyone since you decided to show up late and miss the FIRST introductions." Rei sat down gracefully in the padded chair next to Serena, and lit another cigarette. "Rei," Serena admonished, "not in front of Brandon, please."  
  
"I'll blow the smoke the other way, I promise." Brandon was Serena and Darien's second child. He had been born a few months prior, 3 months to be precise, and was already intruding on Rei's habits, which she found somewhat annoying. Like his father, he was born with a fluffy patch of raven black hair and an olive complexion, but had been graced with his mother's sky blue eyes; which was the opposite of Elizabeth, who carried her mother's facial features, golden hair, and father's midnight blue eyes. Both would grow up to be beautiful children, like their parents, Rei knew that much.  
  
"Rei, you do realize that you're killing yourself with those cigarettes?"  
  
"Yes," she coolly replied, taking another puff. The cigarette was doing wonders to her frazzled nerves.  
  
"And you do realize that you're endangering my son here by you smoking right next to him?" Serena continued her interrogation, knowing that if she kept pestering Rei, she would eventually get rid of the cigarette.  
  
"Dear God, you're not going to stop irritating me are you?"  
  
"Not until you go either smoke somewhere else or don't smoke while I'm here with Brandon or Elizabeth. Second-hand smoke is dangerous to both of them. that kind of smoke could damage their lungs and give them some ungodly disease, and it would be all YOUR fault." Serena pointed out furtively.  
  
"Fine," Rei grumbled with defeat. She snuffed out her cigarette on the concrete, and smiled to the rest of the people sitting around them. "I guess Serena isn't going to introduce me, so I might as well. I'm Rei Valmont, Darien's kid sister." Everyone waved politely while others lifted up their beer in acknowledgement of her presence.  
  
"Let me introduce these people to you," Serena began. "This is Lita Granger and her boyfriend, Nick Ralling, who under Darien. This is Amy Masterson, she's a friend of mine from college. Then there's Luke Williams, another one of Darien's group members. Ricardo Sanchez, James Morris, although everyone calls him Jed, and Antonio Marinia, all of whom are members of Darien's group as well." The last three men to be introduced to Rei gave her the appreciative eye, before smiling grandly at her, as though trying to employ all their perfected charm on her. It would do no good, for Rei was immune to it.  
  
"It's a pleasure to meet you," the one named Ricardo suavely said. His voice was accented with a Latin ring to it, and it made Rei lift her shapely eyebrow in his direction.  
  
"Likewise, I guess." She shrugged.  
  
"Darien never mentions you," Jed, if she remembered correctly, spoke up.  
  
"Well he never mentioned you to me, and I can see why now." Her words were sharp and cold, and Serena smacked her arm lightly for her lack of manners. "What?" Rei snapped at her in return for the physical blow.  
  
"Be nice," Serena answered as she stood up to go see what her husband was doing.  
  
"I see you're not one for manners," Jed muttered as he took a sip of his drink.  
  
"Get over yourself," Rei spat out. This guy was infuriating! She had barely spoken a sentence to him, and suddenly he starts making assumptions on her.  
  
"So," Ricardo cut in before an argument ensued, "what do you do, Rei?"  
  
"I work for, Global United, I'm one of their reporters."  
  
"So what exactly do you do?" Jed asked her. He seemed to be the most handsome out of all of the men she had met thus far at the cookout. With short blonde hair and riveting blue-green eyes, he was indeed breathtaking. Yet his exterior appearance seemed to exceed his interior, that much Rei gathered from his quick judgments and cocky attitude.  
  
"I travel all around the world doing articles about current international issues, whether it be from a political standpoint or a humanitarian perspective. I recently got back from a three week trip to El Salvador where I did a major piece about the suddenly often uprisings of radicals and warlords against the government. It was quite intriguing," she informed those around her.  
  
"Sounds a bit dangerous don't you think? Especially for a female reporter no less," Jed commented.  
  
"Well this female reporter finds nothing dangerous and scary about it. The world deserves to know the truth about what's going on around them. Danger is just a minor detail to my job description."  
  
"Sounds fascinating," Amy spoke up. Rei took her to be the quiet one out of the group at the table, for although many of the others had yet to speak a word to her, Amy had a calm aura to her that oozed conservativeness and quiet intelligence. Her dark brown hair shined in the setting sun with an almost blue hue, to which Rei found out later on was actually because she had blue highlights.  
  
"I hate reporters," Jed commented.  
  
"Well no one asked for your opinion, especially not this reporter," Rei replied, her voice sounding a bit shocked to hear him say something so rude and blunt.  
  
"It's a free country. I can say whatever damn well pleases me, and just because you're a reporter, it doesn't mean that I have to hold my tongue in your presence. I hate reporters because when I get sent to do a job, your cameras and nosy selves are trying to get the 'good stuff', making it damn near impossible for me to get MY job done." Sitting back in his seat, he took another sip of his beer, as though he had just completed a hard task and was patting himself on the back.  
  
"You have some nerve. You say that it's a free country, yet when we try to take heed of it, you complain. This free country deserves to know what's going on out there, and if it inconveniences you, well boo fucking hoo. Deal with it, or find another job, because I always get my story, no matter what."  
  
By now, the entire party had gone silent listening to Rei and Jed argue over their difference in opinions. She never intended for her conversation to turn sour, yet he had the nerve to shame her career-her LIFE-in front of her, obviously not apologetic in the least to have done such a disrespectful thing.  
  
"You know, you have some nerve, jackass." And with that, Rei stormed off to find her brother.  
  
"Nice speech, Rei," Darien said as he flipped the burgers. "only took you 5 minutes to find someone to argue with."  
  
"He started it," Rei muttered, lighting a cigarette and sounding every bit the petulant child.  
  
"Spare me, Rei. I know you well enough to know that you probably said something to get Jed all worked up. Usually he's seducing the girl, not arguing with her you know."  
  
"I'd rather argue than be seduced, thank you very much," Rei spoke, blowing the smoke into a fanciful curve. "Besides, I have to go. I only promised Serena a quick appearance. I have a lot of work to do."  
  
"Well take some burgers then if you insist on leaving."  
  
"I would have stayed longer, but I don't feel like putting up with such rude people. How do you put up with them?" she asked. If she couldn't stand the guy for 5 minutes, how could Darien do it in the middle of a warzone?  
  
"You may find him unbearable, but he's a hell of a soldier, and he's saved my ass more times than I count. That's all that matters to me; getting back to my family." Darien looked out to see his wife, the love of his life, putting their son in the playpen she had set up for him as Elizabeth looked on in wonder and amazement. They were his life, and he didn't care what kind of person his teammates were, as long as they brought him back to the people whom he adored.  
  
"Yeah well, you've definitely got some balls on you to deal with him because I sure as hell can't stand him." And with a quick hug, she left to return home to a pile of depressing pictures and a heart wrenching article.  
  
A.N: Not my best work, but it'll do for now. Please review!  
  
Love,  
  
Michelle 


	2. Chapter II

Land of Tears  
  
November 24, 2003  
  
Tinie-Dancer  
  
A.N: I know. I know. Where the hell have I been? What have I been doing that I haven't updated this story? Well, let me just tell you, AP Calculus is kicking my ass at the moment, along with Physics, and my college applications are kind of taking much more time than I had originally believed it would take. But have no fear; I have finished the second chapter!  
  
One good thing that came out of my short hiatus is that I have a new computer now, woohoo! So now I can't blame my laziness on my broken down p.o.s.  
  
All further announcements will be at the bottom of this chapter!  
  
Thanks to all those who reviewed my story, it means a lot to me. Thanks again!  
  
Enjoy  
  
*  
  
The following day arrived with the typical sunny day and suffocating heat. Everyone in town had decided that staying inside their air-conditioned houses would have been a much better idea as opposed to going out and enduring the heat. Rei would have been one of those cool and comfortable people had she not decided to go to work. Technically, she still had a few days off, but she wanted to finish her piece and perfect it, and she knew very well that staying home would only serve to empower her procrastination and tempt her to take a nap outside instead.  
  
"I didn't expect to see you in so early," Mina said when she popped her golden head into Rei's office.  
  
"I know. I wouldn't have come either, but I'm kind of having writer's block at the moment, and staying at home would only make me want to delete it all and take a nap."  
  
Mina chuckled softly at Rei's comment. "It serves you right for being a perfectionist."  
  
"Don't start, Mina. You may be my boss and all, but you're also my friend. And this friend," she started as she pointed to herself, never once removing her light blue eyes from her computer screen, "is telling that friend," she pointed to her employer, "to leave her the hell alone or else she won't get any article from this reporter." It took Mina a second to process Rei's drivel. "Just get out, Mina! Let me work in peace, goddammit!" Rei yelled, losing all patience with her confused editor.  
  
Sighing, Mina shook her head with hopelessness at her employee, and softly closed the door to Rei's office.  
  
At the moment, Rei wanted to scream. Everything seemed to have been going so smoothly the night before when she was working on her article, but the moment she got back from her brother's party, she could think of nothing that had any semblance to the paper she was writing. Instead, thoughts of a blond haired man with an irritating smirk fluttered through her mind, aggravating Rei to no end. She had barely met the man, but the sheer beauty of his face had left her impressed. Of course, she would never admit this to the public. She had to admit though, that he was handsome, but his egotistical and presumptuous mannerisms were more than enough to make Rei cringe in abhorrence.  
  
Men had never appealed to Rei in all her life. There were the occasional crushes and the semi-serious relationships that occurred sporadically throughout her life, but never once had Rei fallen for a guy so deeply that a life without them made her heart want to stop beating. She was too independent and determined, and it seemed that men were rather allergic to those types of women. She relied on no one to protect her, no one to shield her from the cruel world's glare.  
  
Taking off her fire red glasses, she rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration. She didn't know how to write what she had seen, for she had witnessed so much during her time in El Salvador. The faces of the people whose lives were so bleak and uncertain constantly plagued her. Seeing the children with unbound hopelessness almost made her want to reach out and cry for them all.  
  
Another sigh escaped her as she pulled out a picture of herself when she was younger, sitting on a large boulder with a burning red sun behind her, setting across the Serengeti. Her childhood was spent traveling the continent, exploring the infinite Sahara and roaming the plains and valleys of the Serengeti. Her parents had been humanitarian workers; both had been doctors working to help the impoverished peoples of Africa. Her parents had met while on a mission to Nigeria, and six months later, they married. Their marriage was that of a fairy tale, and Rei had envied the ease and happiness they had shared with each other. Darien was born a few months later, and her parents decided to settle down in South Africa. She had been born when her brother was only 3, and together, as a happy family, they had lived in a quiet community in Cape Town. On occasion, her parents would leave for a mission project, but never once did they leave their children for extended periods of time. However, the ending to her blissful days came one night when she was only 7.  
  
Leaning back into her chair, Rei closed her eyes as the memories surged forward. The years afterwards were years that to that day, Rei never wanted to remember. Her brother had been sparred the trauma, for he left Africa to live with one of their aunts in California. Rei had chosen to stay behind. Africa was the only home she knew then, and the thought of leaving it for a country so different, was unimaginable. There was no doubt that she loved Africa. When she was younger, she would wake up before the dawn, and watch the sun rise over the sand dunes in the Sahara. Or at night, she would lie in an open field in the Serengeti, counting the stars that were spread out before her as though they were shining just for her, and listen to the beckoning calls of the wild world around her. It would be so peaceful lying on the grass or a large boulder, as though she were the only one around for miles and miles.  
  
Yet, no paradise can exist in the world today.  
  
Tears began to gather in the corner of her light blue eyes as she brought back her childhood memories. Swallowing the lump that was forming in her throat, she wiped the two or three tears that had burned down her cheeks, and resumed working with an even greater dedication.  
  
Working straight through the day, Rei didn't take another break until almost six. She had managed to finish her article and proof her pictures. The only thing that was left was to format it. Taking a cigarette from her pack next to her phone, she stuck it behind her ear and walked outside to the roof that had been designated as the smoking lounge. Mina was already out there.  
  
"Did you get it all done?" Mina asked between puffs.  
  
"Yeah, pretty much. I just have to format it to the page, and then I'm done." Puffs of cigarette smoke blew out of her mouth in intricate designs as she starred off into the city below. Arizona was so beautiful in the summer.  
  
"How about going out tonight? It'll just be us. I need to get drunk."  
  
"What you need is to get laid. Maybe it'll mellow you out."  
  
"I hope so. So are you in or not?"  
  
"Sure, why not. I'll meet you at the café at about, 10:00?"  
  
"Okay. There's this new club I've wanted to check out. They say it's a pretty hip place."  
  
"Count me in," Rei said as she took the last long puff from her cigarette before heading downstairs.  
  
**  
  
Jed hadn't been able to do much thinking either. Rei had left such an impression on him, even if it was a rather violent impression. He had never met anyone quite like her, and trusts him to know all the single women in the area. Yet it was the fiery Rei, the baby sister of his commander and best friend that had made him yearning for more time with her. True, their encounter had been very brief, but as was said, it was certainly an impressionable encounter.  
  
"Hey Morris! Are you going to keep sitting on your ass and do absolutely nothing, or are you going to get to work?" Darien called out from the other side of the office. They were supposed to be reviewing operative briefs from one of their prior missions, but Jed's mind could not concentrate much on the words in front of him.  
  
"Sure, why not? You're working hard enough for the both of us," he yelled back in reply.  
  
"Smartass!" was Darien's retort.  
  
"None other," Jed muttered to himself as he turned back to his frighteningly large stack of reports. "This job sucks," he sulked before grabbing the next report and settling in for more gruesome hours of reading.  
  
By the time both Darien and he had finished reading the assigned material, the sun had already set, and the entire base was almost desolate of cars.  
  
"Goddamn! What a long day," Jed groaned as he stretched out his tired back. Sitting in the uncomfortable office chairs was going to seriously kill him if he didn't buy a new one. Darien, taking the initiative, had ordered a brand new leather chair for his office, thus so that he didn't have to deal with what Jed was going through.  
  
"You bitch way too much for a soldier, you know that Morris?"  
  
"I'll remember that next time you're complaining about the mosquitoes and having our asses fired at by the enemy," Jed threw back.  
  
"Oh shut up." Laughing, both men began walking out to their respective cars.  
  
"Hey, Darien, can I ask you a question?"  
  
"Is it about my sister?"  
  
Jed wasn't exactly sure how to answer, so he opted with the truth. Darien wouldn't kill his best friend, would he? Not over a question, anyways.  
  
"Yea, but I swear it's nothing that I would ask."  
  
"So it's not a stupid question?"  
  
"Ha ha," Jed deadpanned.  
  
"Well, shoot."  
  
"Okay, how come your sister has an accent, but you don't? Aren't you both from the same family? Or was she like, adopted or something?"  
  
"No," Darien began as he unlocked his car, "Rei and I ARE siblings by blood, it's just that when I was really young, I went to live with an aunt and uncle in California, while she stayed in South Africa with our parents."  
  
"Why'd you leave?"  
  
"What's with the Barbara Walters?"  
  
"Nothing," Jed answered defensively. "I'm just curious. I thought it was kind of weird, that's all. So, why'd you leave?"  
  
"Ugh, Jed, go home. I have a family to get home to."  
  
"You mean you have a wife to go do," Jed suggestively said.  
  
"Go home!" was all Darien yelled before backing out his small car and then speeding out of the parking lot, leaving Jed to think about Rei, and how he was going to meet her again.  
  
Unable to think of how he'd be able to find at such time of night, he decided to get his mind off of that ONE girl by having some fun of his own with another. He was a guy, and he was THE James Morris, Casa Nova of the 21st century. ***  
  
The club was crowded began explanation. Rei had to fight with all the strength in her to make it through the dancing crowd, and she swore that every minute she stayed longer in this place, the more she was going to grow deaf. The bass was so loud that she could feel her organs quivering rhythmically to the music, and it nauseated her.  
  
"Isn't this great?" Mina screamed into Rei's ear. At the moment, they were sitting in one of the various eccentric lounging couches that had been placed around the edges of the club for those who wanted to simply sit and socialize.  
  
"Yea, fun!" Rei sarcastically yelled back. She was not having the best time of her life. she had been expecting to meet at least ONE interesting person during the 4 hours that she'd been there, but as of yet, she had met only desperately perverted middle aged men and boring businessmen who could not be smooth if Casanova himself had given them lessons on seduction.  
  
"I'm going to go dance. I'll be back later!" Mina yelled as she made her way to the dance floor, leaving Rei to fend for herself. She had no idea how she was going to fight off the swarms of ill-wanted men that seemed to grow closer to her by the second. Their beady eyes and greasy hair was making her want to vomit, and the fact that their tongues dragged half a mile behind them did nothing to assuage her uneasiness. Men are disgusting, she thought to herself.  
  
From her seat on the neon pink couch, Mina seemed to have found a very friendly guy who was now practically having sex with her in the middle of the dance floor. Mina's invisible dress had risen to an indecent height as the stranger proceeded to practically ravage her. Mina seemed to have all the luck, for the man was unimaginably hot. With blond hair and sharply chiseled features, Rei did not doubt that she would be doing the same thing Mina was doing if she were her.  
  
The 'fake sex' as Rei had termed it, had been lasting for almost 20 minutes before the couple moved at another angle, giving Rei a better look at the stranger that was now literally two seconds from having sex with her best friend. As one of the dance lights hit the pair, Rei noticed the stranger to be incredibly familiar. In fact, she would bet her life that she knew him.  
  
Mina seemed to have finally been unable to wait anymore for 'THE' moment, so she pulled away from her 'lover boy', as Rei had dubbed him, long enough to drag him with her towards Rei, before yelling, "I'm leaving now. Bye!" and rushing out the front doors with her prey in tow.  
  
But in that one moment that she saw Mina's 'companion', the light bulb of realization switched on as she sat there stunned.  
  
It was James Morris, the guy that was making it impossible for her to forget.  
  
****  
  
A.N: Hope you liked! I'm again truly sorry that I haven't updated it as soon as I wanted to. Like I said, life is really stressin' me at the moment. 


	3. Chapter III

Land of Tears  
  
February 2004  
  
A.N: Chapter numero three is done! I know that everyone is proud of me! I took the initiative and thought out the outline for this chapter...go me!  
  
Enjoy the chapter!  
  
*  
  
The next day, Rei was determined to forget all about the night before at the club. After Mina had left with Jed, Rei had not been able to fight back the lurid wave of truly pathetic men, and decided to hail the next taxi home.  
  
Once she was inside the small apartment, Rei kicked off her shoes and threw herself haphazardly onto her bed, without so much as a care to the word around, and was soon asleep before she could get under the covers.  
  
The night passed in a dreamless whirl, and by morning, the sun was glaring brightly in the sky, managing to spread its rays into Rei's darkened room. She felt as though she was floating, and for once, her troubles did not plague her dreams. The dreamless nights were those that Rei had learned to appreciate. Sometimes, living in her reality all day and night was enough to make her go mad.  
  
Unfortunately for her, Darien had decided to call her that morning to see how her night had gone. Always the big brother, he would call whenever he had the chance to see how she was doing, and to make sure that she was handling things, for he was certain that Rei would never get over what happened to her when she was a child.  
  
The phone's shrill ringing was torturing Rei, and being left with no option save to answer the damned thing she begrudgingly answered the telephone from under her pillow. Voice thick with sleep, she muttered, "Hello?"  
  
"G'morning, Sunshine!" Darien yelled through the other end. He had a hunch that his sister had had too much fun the night before, and was going to make sure she regretted it. "How are you this morning?"  
  
"Go to hell, Darien," she bit back, as she hid underneath her pillow. His booming voice was beating against her head like an African drum, and she was not enjoying the sensation.  
  
"Aw, sis, I thought Mom raised you better than to speak that way to your older brother?"  
  
"Shove it, bro. Just tell me what the fuck you want and leave me alone."  
  
"Temper, temper," he laughed. Darien was enjoying torturing his sister far too much. It almost felt illegal.  
  
"Yea, whatever."  
  
"Well, I was calling to see if you were still coming for dinner tonight. Serena is making, I don't know, hold on." Raised voices were heard from the distance as Darien asked his wife what she was cooking for dinner. "She's making spaghetti. So are you in?"  
  
"Yeah," she sighed. "I can't say no to food, even if it is Serena's cooking."  
  
"Okay, well, dinner should be ready around 7:00, so try to come BEFORE we finish dinner, okay?"  
  
"Darien, go screw yourself," she retorted before hanging up on him. Groaning, she turned over in bed, and went back to sleep.  
  
**  
  
She felt much better when she woke up that afternoon. After making a cup of instant coffee and then lighting up a cigarette, Rei had never felt better. Thinking about last night, Rei chuckled at the irony of seeing the obnoxious Jed once more. She had not been expecting to see him again, ever, but 'the world was full of surprises', as the cliché stated.  
  
Deciding on going to the gym to work off some of the alcohol still in her bloodstream, she put on a pair of track pants and t-shirt, slipped on her tennis shoes, and grabbed her keys and cigarettes before locking her door.  
  
It was a 10 minute walk from her apartment to the gym. The day had become somewhat cloudy and the wind had picked up quite a bit, making Rei's hair fly out of her ponytail and all into her face. It was nearly impossible trying to light her cigarette, but after using her body as a shield for her lighter, she was able to finally get it lit. She slowed her pace in order to enjoy her cigarette, and took a look around. The city was quiet today. Not very many cars were on the roads, and the sidewalks were empty save for the occasional pedestrian.  
  
She always hated this town.  
  
Maybe it was because it was so quiet and dull, or maybe because she never really felt like she belonged there.  
  
The gym was not crowded, and Rei immediately got to work on the treadmill. Putting on her headphones, she blasted the volume and concentrated on the picture of a sunset at the beach as she ran. She hated running, but it was the only thing that she felt like doing at the moment. After about 30 minutes on the treadmill, she switched over to another machine close by, and continued working.  
  
Within another hour, she was sweaty, tired, and quite moody because of the fact that she was tired. Signing out, she left the gym with an eagerness to return home and take a long hot shower, never once aware that Jed had been staring at her the entire time.  
  
***  
  
Arriving home, she took the nice long shower that she had been pining for on her return home. Feeling completely human afterwards, she rummaged through her refrigerator and cabinets to only find an empty can of peanut butter, a stick of margarine, and a bottle of mineral water. Realizing that a visit to the grocery store was called for, she made her way out the door once more.  
  
It took her twenty minutes to get to the store three miles away, all thanks to her car. Unable to start it, she'd had to call a neighbor to use his car to charge her battery. She knew that she should have bought a new battery for her car, or at least taken it to the shop to get it fixed, but after being away for such a long time, fixing her car was not on her immediate plans.  
  
She bought what she needed: bread, milk, eggs, pop tarts, cereal, macaroni and cheese, hot pockets, ramen noodle soups, toothpaste, tampons, and cigarettes. Rei had never been selective as to what she ate, which made grocery shopping quite easy for her.  
  
The rest of the day passed in relative ease. Stretched out on the couch, Rei stared at the ceiling. On days like today, there wasn't really much else to do. She didn't like watching much television because she never grew up around one. Her parents valued an outside life as opposed to a life lived inside watching the television.  
  
Thus, Rei did not own a television.  
  
It drove Darien and Serena crazy whenever they would stop by, because there was nothing to do at Rei's house. Rei didn't seem a bit miffed by the absence of a television, but since her brother did grow up in Santa Monica, he was quite accustomed to it, as was Serena.  
  
Instead, Rei preferred to read. She would stay in her room all day reading until her eyes would close of their own volition. Ever since she was a child, she loved to read. Her mother was fond of reading, and Rei remembered staying up late as a child to hear her mother's voice as she would read great classics, like Moby Dick, Les Miserables, or her favorite, The Little Prince. Perhaps that was why she loved to read now. Not so much for the power that the words exuded, but because it made her feel closer to her beloved parents.  
  
She would never stop missing her parents. The ache inside her that constantly dwelled within her chest would never cease. Every breath, every thought, everything in Rei's life only made her miss her parents more.  
  
Darien had never been that close to their parents; and it made Rei pity him.  
  
He never cherished the work their parents did for society. Instead, he saw their careers as a stigma, rather than a tool to wield in shaping the world. He resented his parents for always being absent. He loved his parents, but he showed a distant kind of love, and never made attempts to know his parents for what they did and who they were. No, because of that, Darien would never get to know two of the greatest people of the entire world's time.  
  
It was her parent's life work, their burning passion to help those whose lives were without hope that made her risk her life each time she would go on an assignment. By placing her life in the balance, she strived to be what they were. Darien never understood her reasoning to the madness she did, but she knew he never would. Of course, Darien's line of work was no more dangerous than her own. Countless times she told him, and all he responded with each time was, "But you're my little sister."  
  
Sighing, Rei continued to stare at the ceiling.  
  
She knew that Monday, Mina would bounce happily into office and give her another assignment. Rei was not dreading it; she was anticipating it with excitement. Would she go off to Russia and report on the current rebel situation in Chechnya? Or would she go to Tajikistan to study the corruption in the government? Maybe this time it would be Morocco and the infamous prostitution ring? The possibilities for excitement and enlightenment were infinitesimal.  
  
She sighed once more as she reached over to the coffee table for a cigarette. Looking at the clock, she realized she had only 2 hours before she had to be at Darien's for dinner. Sometimes he truly did aggravate her, she thought to herself as she went back to the conversation that morning.  
  
Immediately she thought of the night before.  
  
This reminded her of Jed and Mina.  
  
The phone rang, and Rei was surprised at the irony of seeing Mina's name on the caller id. Slowly picking it up, she placed it beside her ear and removed her hand so she could take a drag of her cigarette.  
  
"Fun night?" She couldn't help but ask.  
  
"Oh my God, Rei, I had the best sex of my life!" Mina exclaimed on her end of the line.  
  
"No kidding? The excitement in your voice would not have led me to that conclusion," she inveighed. It wasn't jealousy that made her say those words in THAT manner, it was sarcasm and annoyance. He seemed like the type of person to do the 'sex-on-the-go' kind of thing with a stranger.  
  
"Oh Rei, just because you didn't get any doesn't mean you should hold it against me. Besides, how were you supposed to find someone if all you did last night was sit on your ass and drink yourself into misery. I went to that club with a mission, and baby, mission ACCOMPLISHED!"  
  
"He must have been really good if you're using that horrible cliché."  
  
"He was, and ten times more." Rei could practically see the satisfaction beaming from Mina.  
  
"So do you and Mr. Wonderful plan on seeing each other again?"  
  
"I don't know. I think it was a one time thing, which honestly doesn't bother me any. He wasn't much for after-sex talk, and you know I like to talk after doing the deed."  
  
"Yes, you've told me that you have an inclination to chat afterwards." She paused, not sure if by asking this question, Mina would assume the negative connotation. "So, that means you won't be seeing him again, right?"  
  
"Rei," Mina stated slowly, and Rei was quickly on the defensive, "are you interested in Jed?"  
  
"No!" she yelled into the phone. "I mean, no. I don't. I was just curious, because first you say that he was amazing in bed, but then that you don't plan on seeing him again. I just assumed that if a person likes a person, especially if there's great sex involved, then they would want to pursue something more with them. That's all I meant by that question."  
  
"Uh huh, sure! Rei likes Jed! Rei likes Jed!" Mina laughed. She loved pressing Rei's buttons when it came to men.  
  
"Mina, shut up! Quit acting like a third grader! Grow up!" Rei yelled back into her phone. "Well, as much as I'd love to insults and come backs from elementary school, I have a dinner date with my brother to be late to, so I'll see you Monday."  
  
"Rei likes Jed!" Mina snickered, before hanging up the phone.  
  
Sometimes Rei didn't understand why she put up with Mina, no matter how good of a friend she was.  
  
***  
  
Naturally, God had not instilled a sense of time for Rei, and soon after getting off the phone with Mina, Rei had decided to finish reading her current book, Jane Eyre. She only had half of the book left, and by the time Rei managed to finish the last page, it was 7:08.  
  
Having no time to change out of her blue track suit, she put on her slip-on tennis shoes, and went out to her car. With luck, she started her car after the fourth time, and sped down the barren street to her brother's home on base, muttering to herself the entire time.  
  
"Shit, shit, shit, Darien's going to kill me!" She looked at her clock, 7:20. Hopefully she'd make it to get the last of the spaghetti.  
  
She parked her car on the small patch of driveway that was not used, and ran inside without bothering to knock. They were expecting her anyways.  
  
"I'm sorry I'm late! I'm sorry, I got caught up finishing a book, and well, I lost track of time, and then I couldn't start my car—"she rambled as she sat herself in her usual chair.  
  
"Rei, dinner isn't going to be served until eight. I knew that if I told you an earlier time, you'd make it in time for dinner," Darien interrupted. He couldn't help but chuckle at Rei's expression of utter disbelief.  
  
"So you lied to me?"  
  
"No, I ensured you a plate of spaghetti. Now go help Serena with dinner. Brandon's been fussy today and Elizabeth isn't feeling all that well, and I'm sure the kitchen is a chaos right now."  
  
"My girl's sick?" Rei asked with worry.  
  
"She's not dying of tuberculosis, so don't start crying a river. She's just got a cold. So go help Serena, will you? I'm hungry." He made his way into the living room and turned on the television.  
  
"And you can't help her out, why? She is YOUR wife, not mine. And those are YOUR kids, again, not mine. I'm a guest here; I shouldn't have to work for my food. You're a shitty host."  
  
"Well, let me remind you that you just walked into my house, which is not something a GUEST would do. Besides, I help them out all the time." His eyes never left the television screen.  
  
"I can see that," she muttered darkly as she surveyed the house. It was clean, but it could have certainly used some tweaking. Elizabeth's toys were strewn everywhere across the stairs and the hallways; Brandon's stuff was thrown in a dangerous pile close to toppling over in a corner of the den, and Darien's uniform jacket, boots, beret, and equipment were all over the couch by the door. Yes, he did help all the time—in increasing the mess.  
  
Rolling her eyes, she started to pick up the things that cluttered the house, and placed them in their proper places. She made sure to walk in front of the television every chance she could, and sometimes she walked past it at a slow pace to pick up a nonexistent item, just to annoy her older brother. She never understood what was so addictive about the television, and projected her opinion by making it difficult for Darien to see it.  
  
"Rei! Move your ass out of my way! I can't see the TV!" He yelled at her.  
  
"My bad," she huffed, stomping away loudly. She'd wait a little bit before marching right back in front of the television to pick up something on the other side of the room.  
  
"Rei, I'm missing the game!" he whined.  
  
"Shut up, Darien. You told me to help; now I'm helping."  
  
"Well help ME out by moving out of the fucking way! I'm missing all the good plays!" It was a game between Duke University and Conneticut, and at the moment, it was tied with only 10 minutes left in the game.  
  
"Hey, don't use that language here! Elizabeth can hear you in the kitchen!"  
  
"I can say whatever the hell I want to!" Darien bit back. To prove his point, he started saying all kinds of words, "Fuck! Shit! Dammit!"  
  
"DARIEN!" Serena's voice boomed from the kitchen! "Stop that! Elizabeth's over here repeating every damn—oops, single, word you say!"  
  
"Sorry Serena!" he yelled back from his spot.  
  
How was Rei related to him? He seemed the complete opposite of her, and yet, somehow, they both were from the same gene pool. She must have been given the good genes.  
  
Rei left Darien alone afterwards to go help Serena. Walking into the kitchen, she was surprised to see that everything was not in a chaotic order like her brother had described it.  
  
"Yeah, some big trouble Serena was having," Rei said to herself. Brandon was sitting in the swing, observing everything around him, while Elizabeth sat in her special pink chair and colored in a raggedy coloring book. Serena was fixing the salad while listening to some classical piano.  
  
"Hi Rei! Did Darien tell you I was having trouble with the kids?" Rei nodded. "Figures; he says that so he won't have to do anything." Sighing, she nodded towards the cabinets. "You can help me set up the table. Darien invited a friend from work, so add an extra plate for him."  
  
"And I thought I was special by being the only one you guys invited," Rei pouted. "Hi Ellie! Your daddy told me you were sick, how you feeling, baby girl?"  
  
"Much better," Ellie piped up as she hugged her aunt and wiped her nose on Rei's shirt nonchalantly. Rei smiled in false gratitude, and went back to set up the table.  
  
"You're daughter just baptized me with her snot. Did she learn that from Darien?"  
  
Serena laughed in response, and went to reset Brandon's swing.  
  
"So how have you been, Rei? I know I haven't seen you in a while, and with Brandon now, I haven't been able to call you. We should go out for lunch one of these days."  
  
"We should. Maybe we could have lunch at my apartment some time this week," Rei offered.  
  
"You mean, I bring the food and you just sit there and eat it?"  
  
"If that's how you want to phrase it, then fine." Rei pointedly replied. Smiling, she continued to place the silverware and napkins at each chair, making sure to place Ellie's butterfly plate and cup by her.  
  
"So what's new with you? Any new trip you're going on?" Serena asked as she chopped up the cucumbers and tomatoes for the salad.  
  
"Yea, I get all the information Monday. I'm hoping to go to Kazakhstan or somewhere in that region. I never get a chance to go there. Or Africa. Going to Africa would be nice. I haven't gone back home since before Ellie was born."  
  
"Didn't you just get back, though? Leaving so soon and you haven't even settled in yet? Your job is worse than Darien's."  
  
"Yes, but you're strong, and you manage amazingly when he's gone," Rei commented. She turned to look at Serena, and was surprised to see Serena look upset.  
  
"It's not as easy as it looks, Rei. Don't think that it is. I'm not as strong as I appear to be. I have to be strong because of my children; Darien's children. I have to be honest with you, Rei. When I found out that I was pregnant with Brandon, I didn't want it. I thought: Why am I going to have another kid just to remind me that Darien isn't there? That I won't see him for another three months, six months, and a year? That he won't be there during the pregnancy, he won't be there to take me to the hospital and to see our child born. I didn't want to have to see two children who remind me of my missing husband every day, knowing that they're as good as its going to get to being close to my husband."  
  
"Serena, I didn't know you felt that way." Rei walked over to Serena, and placed the plate in her hand on the speckled beige counter before giving her a hug.  
  
"Yes, well," Serena chuckled as she wiped a few tears from her eyes, "there are so many things about my marriage with your brother that you don't know about."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Rei scrunched her eyebrows together in question. Her fiery red glasses drooped a bit down her nose, and she pushed them back up.  
  
"Nothing, it's just...it's nothing. Don't worry about it." Rei sensed that there was something more to Serena's comment, but she didn't want to press herself upon Serena.  
  
Dinner was ready ten minutes later, and Rei helped Serena place the food on the table. She took Brandon to his room to change him and put his clean pajamas on. As she changed him and talked to him, Rei wondered what it would have been like if she had children. She wasn't exactly an old maid, but she wasn't getting younger either.  
  
What if she wanted kids?  
  
What if she wanted to settle down and have her own children, but she was too old to have kids?  
  
After what happened to her as a child, Rei pledged her life to helping those who could not help themselves. She sacrificed her nonexistent but possible future family for millions of Those who needed someone to help them. There were no regrets over what she had chosen in life, for Rei never regretted her decision.  
  
She couldn't help but wonder, though.  
  
The doorbell chimes brought her out of her reverie. The table was set, and Serena was already seated in her chair with Elizabeth beside her, and Brandon in the playpen in the corner of the dining room. Rei sat next to Ellie, and helped serve her spaghetti since Ellie's arms couldn't reach far enough.  
  
Darien walked in and showed Jed where to sit. Rei tried not to be annoyed that Fate had obviously planned this 'coincidence', but she was annoyed. Surprisingly, she wasn't bothered anymore by the fact that the night before, he'd had sex with her best friend. No, instead, she was bothered by the way he sauntered into the dining room as though he were king of the entire world. She served her plate, and then began to eat in silence, occasionally talking with Ellie, but since Ellie was sick, there was mostly tranquility at the dining table. Darien and Serena talked; that is, Serena talked and Darien would make some form of nonverbal communication to let his wife know that he was listening.  
  
Jed, well, Rei could have cared less as to what Jed was doing. So she ate her food, and let Serena preside over the dinner chat.  
  
"Darien, did you know that Rei was leaving again on another assignment?"  
  
"No, she failed to tell me." He turned to Rei, "Do you know where you're going?"  
  
"No, not yet," she shook her head. "Mina doesn't tell me until Monday." At the sound of her friend's name, Jed shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "She usually makes a good choice when it comes to things like that. I'm sure it's going to be somewhere exciting and with an amazing message to send."  
  
"You mean it's going to be somewhere exciting where people are going to be shooting at you and blowing each other up. Remember what happened that time you were in Ireland?"  
  
Rei grimaced at the mention of one of her previous assignments. There had been an increasing tension between the British government and the IRA, which had tempted Rei like live bait for a shark.  
  
"What happened in Ireland?" Jed asked.  
  
"Nothing important," Rei bit back as she dug into her salad.  
  
"Don't be rude, Rei, he was only asking a question. Go ahead; tell him what you did."  
  
"Well, if you MUST know, Jed," Rei began acridly, " During one of my interviews with a member of the IRA, the British government responded to shots being fired, and I ended up being caught in the cross fire. A bomb had been set off in the building where I was using as cover while I took some pictures for my story, and I ended up getting a broken arm, a fractured rib, and a mild concussion. Darien had just about gone crazy when he found out, and had demanded that I take a hiatus of at least a month to recover. You know, that you mentioned it, I'm still not happy with you about that. I missed out on a trip to Algeria, thanks to you."  
  
"Forgive me, little sister, for being the concerned big brother. I don't think you were in any condition to go trekking through the wilderness of Africa with a fractured rib and a broken arm," Darien retorted. "I didn't know it was bad to care about your family."  
  
"Whatever," Rei muttered as she finished her salad.  
  
"Oh my, what a mature response," Darien teased.  
  
"If you're job is so dangerous, why do it?" Jed asked. He seemed interested in Rei, and the fact that she'd gotten hurt while doing her job definitely caught his attention. She seemed to be more complex than he at first reasoned.  
  
"I do it because that's my job. Darien fails to realize that while his is a government job, from the government," Rei added this comment with air quotation marks, "mine is also similar to his. He tries to solve the problem through military strategies; I solve the same problems through my words and the pictures I take. Somehow, I find my job to be a bit more, diplomatic. Getting hurt on the job is not as big a deal as he makes it out to be, in all actuality. Everyone can get hurt on the job. A construction worker falls off a ladder, a nurse throws out her back lifting a patient, a driver's ed teacher gets into a car wreck while instructing; no job is 'injury safe'."  
  
"I see now why you're a writer," Jed commented. Rei was beginning to grow on him. He still strongly disliked her, but the fact that she carried herself with such dignity, and spoke so passionately, it made him want to know more about her. Sure, her attitude was a major obstacle to overcome, but if she was as interesting as he seemed to perceive her, then maybe it was an obstacle worth overcoming.  
  
"I am NOT a writer," Rei said with an ice to her voice that made Jed snap up in shock. "I am a journalist. I do not create stories simply to entertain. That is what a writer does. I write, yes, but I am not a writer. I am a journalist, and a damn good one."  
  
"Didn't know journalists were so touchy on the name 'writer'."  
  
"This journalist is, okay? Quite frankly, I can't seem to feel as though my words have depreciated your career. I mentioned that my job was a bit more diplomatic, and I noticed the scowl you tried to hide. Did I strike a nerve?" She leaned closer across the table as she raised an eyebrow, fully aware that she was baiting him and that Darien was looking at her as though she had completely lost all sense in her mind.  
  
"Okay, so maybe you did," Jed began heatedly, "I bust my ass day and night doing my job, and to have you say that just because you can write a sentence well, you're job is more diplomatic, it pisses me off. You have no idea what it's like doing my job, so don't go making assumptions where none should be made. I personally could care less what the fuck you think about my job, and that of your brother's, but don't go placing yourself higher because you don't carry a gun to get your job accomplished."  
  
Rei stared at him with a fiery anger in her eyes, as she stood up, and left the table. "I need a cigarette."  
  
It was a cool night. The stars were shining brightly in the sky, and as Rei sat on the porch swing smoking her cigarette, she thought of what Jed had said. The nerve he had to...he had no right...imbecile. The front door swung open slowly, and Darien stepped outside onto the front porch. He, too, was staring at the sky, and although he had yet to look in Rei's direction, he knew she was looking at him.  
  
"That wasn't very nice what you said back there. We both work hard to be good at our jobs, and it sort of stung to hear you say what you did." He made way to sit down next to his sister. Taking the cigarette from his sister's hand, he took a drag from it, and gave it back to her. "I could really use a cigarette right now." Rei reached into the box next to her, and pulled one out for him. "Thanks."  
  
She nodded 'your welcome'.  
  
"You ever think of going back to Africa, Darien? You know, to see if the house is still the same like before?"  
  
"No. I don't think I'll ever go back to Africa. Not after what happened." He lit the cigarette, and inhaled the smoke languorously. "I'm sure you do, though."  
  
"Yea. I miss it, Darien. You don't know how much I miss that house. And Nanii, and the way the days were so simple and beautiful. I miss Mom and Dad the most, though."  
  
"I know you do, sweetie. I know you do."  
  
The two siblings remained silent as they both thought about their days in Africa.  
  
"Have you talked to Nanii?" Darien asked. Nanii had been their nanny when their parents were away on trips too dangerous for Rei and Darien.  
  
"About two weeks ago. Chad died about a month ago," she told him.  
  
"Chad? Really? What happened?" Chad had been Nanii's son. He was Darien's age, and had been a great confidante of Darien's during his childhood before he moved to California.  
  
"AIDS."  
  
"I didn't know Chad had AIDS," Darien said.  
  
"Yea, about a few years after you left, Chad got caught in gunfire between a rebel group and some government soldiers. They gave him a blood transfusion, and I guess it was a shoddy hospital because within another year, he had AIDS. Nanii sounded really worn out when I spoke to her. I don't think she's got very much left in her, Darien."  
  
He only nodded in response as he took another puff of the cigarette.  
  
"I want to go back, Darien. Next month. After this trip that Mina is sending me on, I want to go back. Even if I can't live there again, I want to see Nanii again, and I want to pay respect to Chad, and...well, you know." She couldn't bring herself to say it, and it made her want to scream.  
  
After so long, shouldn't she able to say what happened all those years ago? Shouldn't she be able to face the reality and accept that she had to move on with her life and leave her home?  
  
"I'd love to go with you, Rei, but I can't bring myself to do it. I can see a thousand graves, see a thousand pictures of Africa and our home, but don't ask me to step foot on the land that took away our parents. I cant, no, I won't do that. Africa stopped being my home the day our family died." There was such anguish and anger in his voice, Rei put her head his shoulder to comfort him.  
  
"I love you, Darien. I always will, no matter how much you aggravate me," she whispered.  
  
"I love you too, Rei. Always will."  
  
"You know, I don't feel the way you do about our home."  
  
"How do you feel about it?" He turned his head to look at her.  
  
"Africa will always be my home because that's where I remember growing up. Even if Africa took away our parents, I never though of my family dying."  
  
"Why's that?"  
  
"Because you're still alive."  
  
*****  
  
A.N: Okay, very poignant chapter. I tried to capture the relationship between Rei and Darien. I based it off of my relationship with my sister, so yea. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! The information I used about Russia, Morocco, and the IRA, I got from researching. So, yeah. I didn't make it up! I promise! I hope no one was offended by my use of international news, or anything else that I wrote in this chapter.  
  
P.S: I know my editing sucks, but please don't hold that against me.  
  
Again, I'm sorry it's taken me such a long time to finish this chapter. I've got beaucoup college paperwork to complete, so the chapters will be slow coming. Bear with me, though, because I am not, under any circumstance, going to abandon this story! I love this story!  
  
If you have any suggestions, comments, feel free to leave a review or email me! (  
  
P.S.S. No, Rei was not raped.  
  
Miche 


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